Not good. A reader writes: While the strong reaction against the stolen election was not so surprising, the extremity of the violence has been shocking. Although Kibaki seems to be effectively utilizing the security forces to maintain a modicum of order in Nairobi, the situation upcountry is more questionable and the main trade route between … Continue reading Omens In Kenya
The Bush administration may not have meant this (yes, I know, the benefit of the doubt again) but it comes with the territory when you’re funding abstinence-only programs in Uganda. Ed Brayton comments here.
One of the merging memes on the social right is that you judge a society by its fertility rate. It’s argued that Western Europe is a failure because its population is aging and will soon begin falling; ditto Russia and Japan. The implication is that modern secularism, with its encouragement of individual freedom, ignores the … Continue reading Demographics and Destiny
The Ugandan dictator and American president have one thing in common: they both back amendments to their countries’ constitutions to bar gay couples from marrying. IN DEFENSE OF MILLER: Well, someone’s got to do it.
That is the question posed by many readers. Dan Smith deals with that subject in the 6th edition of the Atlas (p.22). Here are the differences of income between the poorest 20% of the population and the richest 20% in selected countries according to UNDP Human Development Report 1998: Over 20 times: Brazil, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, … Continue reading BUT WHAT ABOUT INEQUALITY?
Yep, it gets even more depressing. ALLAWI ON ELECTIONS: He says he’d prefer them sooner than January. Shouldn’t this be a bigger story if it’s true? THE FANATICS WE FACE: The more recent outbreak of Islamist mass murder and mayhem should stir us to remember the real enemy. Here’s a posting from a website allegedly … Continue reading JIHADIST KIDS PLAY BEHEADING
Here’s an idea. Maybe OxBlog could do it. Someone out there in blogland should take a look at Ann Coulter’s recent columns and Maureen Dowd’s. Using strict criteria – personal smears, rhetorical hyperbole, unprovable accusations of ill-will, bigotry (towards a class or race or group of people), unsubstantiated claims, and so on, see how the … Continue reading A BLOG CHALLENGE
It’s happening. It really is. Pim Fortuyn’s party stormed to second place in the Dutch elections, behind the Christian Democrats, smashing the social-democratic consensus that had run Holland for the last eight years (and, truth be told, much longer). So we now have center-right governments in Italy, Spain and France. Only Britain’s New Labour has … Continue reading COLLAPSE OF THE EURO-LEFT
The Dish 